Deconstructing Web Pages

1
Deconstructing Web Pages

• Is it Credible?

2

• Imagine that you're using the Internet to
  research a science project on the artificial
  sweetener, Aspartame.
• If the first response to your Web search is the
  page shown here, you might want to run to your
  kitchen and toss out that can of diet Coke.

3
Ms. Markle on Aspartame

• This article is identified as a presentation made
  by a woman named Nancy Markle at the "World
  Environmental Conference and the Multiple
  Sclerosis Foundation F.D.A Issuing for Collusion
  with Monsanto on Aspartame."

4
Ms. Markle quotes a number of experts who have
discovered that

• Aspartame is responsible for systemic lupus and
  methanol toxicity.
• Side effects include blindness, spasms, shooting
  pains, seizures, headaches, depression, anxiety,
  memory loss, birth defects.
• Many have died from Aspartame poisoning.
• A conspiracy between drug and chemical companies
  prevents this from being known.
• Government leaders and medical associations are
  oblivious to this danger.

5
Though these statements are passionate, further
Web research is needed before accepting them as
fact..

• Let's apply the Five W's of Cyberspace
• WHO? is Nancy Markle
• WHO sponsored or attended the "World
  Environmental Conference on Aspartame?"
• Is information about the author and conference
  clearly stated or easy to access?

6

• No contact or background information about the
  author or the conference she attended appears on
  this Web page.
• However, an information search can be used to dig
  a little deeper.

7
Google Search

• Using the search engine Google, a search for the
  name "Nancy Markle" brings up over 1,590 Web
  pages that refer to her.
• The Web sites that turn up under a search for
  "Nancy Markle" either cite this article as proof
  that Aspartame is a health risk, or disagree with
  and refute Ms. Markle's claims.

8
Will the Real Nancy Markle

• The most surprising result of the search is that
  there is no Nancy Markle. It turns out that the
  original source of this "presentation" was
  actually a message posted to Usenet newsgroups by
  a woman named Betty Martini.

9
Betty Martini

• Betty Martini, who is not a medical professional,
  believes that there is a conspiracy between the
  industry creating Aspartame, and the American
  Food and Drug Administration. She has founded an
  organization called "Mission Possible
  International," whose Web site houses an archive
  of anti-Aspartame literature.

10

• Information on the "World Environmental
  Conference on Aspartame" is also sketchy. If you
  search the Keynote Address archives of the
  American Environmental Protection Agency site
  the organization that was supposed to have
  presented the keynote address at this conference
  there is no reference to a conference by that
  name.

11
WHAT???

• What are you getting? Is the information biased?
  Does the site use loaded language or make broad,
  unsubstantiated claims? Can the information be
  verified through other sources?
• Let's check the statements made by Ms. Martini
  for bias.

12
Bias emotional language

• ...people were jumping up during the lecture
  saying Ive got this aspartame disease, is it
  reversible?
• ...there are a lot of people out there who must
  be warned, please let them know this
  information.

13

• A critical reader might wonder why, if Aspartame
  is responsible for so many serious health
  problems, the Canadian and American medical
  associations have not raised the alarm.

14
Lets see what the Health organizations say

• Canadian Diabetes Association
• Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
• Alzheimer Society of Canada

15

• There has been no published, peer-reviewed
  research on aspartame and multiple sclerosis or
  diabetes or Alzheimers Disease which would
  support these claims, and
• There is no evidence of an MS "epidemic," as
  claimed in the document.
• Like the Canadian Diabetes Association, the
  Multiple Sclerosis Society also offers some
  pointers for judging if an Internet document or
  published article is credible.

16
When???

• When was this article posted? Is it current? Has
  it been updated?

17
Where???

• Where is this Web page located?
• What's the nature of the site? Is it a personal
  home page? Is it part of a medical site?
• The article talks about the link between
  Aspartame and Multiple Sclerosis, so is it part
  of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation's Web site?

18
www.rense.com/health/sweetners.htm.

• Where is this Web page located? The original page
  where we found this information about Aspartame
  was at www.rense.com/health/sweetners.htm.
• By paring this URL down to it's domain name,
  www.rense.com/, we are able to learn more about
  the nature of the Web site hosting this
  information.

19

• We discover that "rense.com" is the supporting
  Web page for the Jeff Rense radio show. Both the
  radio show and the Web site are dedicated to
  issues that don't make the mainstream news.

20
Interesting listening and reading to be sure, but
not necessarily factual information.

• "From UFOs, ETs, abductions, alien implants, crop
  formations and the paranormal, to... the poisons
  in packaged food.... no interview program has a
  more consistently amazing content," says the Web
  site's introduction.

21
Why???

• Why would I use this site as a credible source of
  information?
• Can I verify the information I've found?
• It would also be accurate to use this Web site as
  an example of one side of the Aspartame debate.

22
Conclusion

• However, with no verifiable facts available to
  support the statements made by Ms. Martini, and a
  fair bit of confusion regarding the authorship
  and credibility of this article, it would be
  smart to pass on this Web page as an
  authoritative source of information